Grim Reaper II

Pictured: U.S. Air Force B-52G Stratofortress tail number 59-2582, known as the “Grim Reaper II.” This aircraft flew Operation Secret Squirrel, Jan. 16-17, 1991, with the following crew: aircraft commander, Capt. Charles E. Jones Jr.; pilot, Capt. Warren G. Ward; pilot augmentee, Maj. William H. Weller; radar navigator, Capt. Patrick Hobday; navigator, 1st Lt. Aaron E. Hattabaugh; navigator augmentee, Maj. Bruce F. Blood; electronic warfare officer, Capt. Kevin M. Williams; gunner, Sgt. William J. McCutchen. In the early morning of Jan. 16, 1991, seven B-52G Stratofortresses took off from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on a secret mission codenamed “Secret Squirrel.” These B-52s flew more than 14,000 miles in 35 hours – at the time the longest nonstop bombing mission in history, a record which would be held for nearly a decade. The aircraft took off with a load of the Air Force’s newest secret weapon, the AGM-86C Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile. These new long range weapons were launched from each B-52 at predetermined locations outside Iraqi airspace, striking the first blows of Operation Desert Storm. The missile’s pinpoint accuracy and high explosive power proved it to be a particularly effective weapon against the forces and infrastructure of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The ‘Grim Reaper II’ was sent to the scrapyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., on Aug. 27, 1991. (Courtesy photo by H.D. "Buck" Rigg)